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Starter Kit collection

Business case

Impact on the quantity or quality of jobs, and shifts in the labour market

Jobs

Impact on the ease of innovation, and facilitating uptake of innovations

Innovation

Reduced green house gas emissions released into the biosphere

Reduce Emissions (SDG13)

Reduced use of virgin materials and/or an increase of the use of secondary and bio-based materials

Reduce Material Consumption (SDG12)

Minimise waste through diversion: Instead of sending waste to landfill, it is redirected into other industrial processes for handling, treatment, recycling, recovery, or reuse in various forms. 

Minimise waste through design: At the outset of a process of project, plan and design such that there is zero waste or minimal waste during production, use, and at end of life. 

Minimise Waste (SDG12)

Collecting waste from households and businesses by means of refuse bins, wheeled bins, containers, etc., and providing treatment, incineration, materials recovery and reclamation, and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste

Waste Management

Producing textile and leather products and processing them into apparel and accessories

Fashion and Textiles

Ensure renewable, reusable, non-toxic resources are utilised as materials and energy in an efficient way

Prioritise regenerative resources

Utilise bio-based, reusable, non-toxic and non-critical materials

Regenerative materials

Using <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/raw-materials/specific-interest/critical_sv" target="_blank">materials that are not considered critical</a>.

Non-critical materials and inputs 

Solidify definitions and create frameworks to support the understanding of the circular economy across contexts and maintain cohesive systems of data sharing, processing and storing.


 Knowledge Management

Research and facilitate new technological developments to aid the transition to a circular economy.

Research and Development

VISION:
Raw materials are renewable, recyclable and safe, kept in continual circulation.

DETAIL:
Imagine a time when…the raw materials that are used to make things are sourced from existing products and regenerative agriculture, via carbon negative and climate neutral processes. Biodegradable raw materials are used for products with biodegradable end routes. Toxic chemicals have been washed out of the global materials pool, disposed of safely and replaced with beneficial alternatives. Virgin fibres made from fossil fuels have been banned, while secondary synthetic fibres, derived from what was already in the system, are kept in constant circulation as a resource. Circularity accounting methods, built on science-based metrics, help to manage a balanced system of resources, across all industries, and in line with the planet’s environmental limits.

Raw Materials and Planetary Boundaries

VISION:
Products and services are designed for multiple use and material value retention, with maximum positive impact.

DETAIL: 
Imagine a time when…products flow via optimal collection and distribution streams into reusable and repairable product platforms. Reuse and access models are dominant, and products are designed for multiple recirculation before biodegrading (if designed to do so), or being broken down into reusable raw materials for production. People only consume what they need. Production and consumption wastes have been fully eliminated and multifunctional, season-less and timeless fashions are the norm, yet still fulfil our human need for expression and creativity without constraint. All business models, organisations, governments and citizens play a role in maintaining a healthy, functioning circular ecosystem.

Products and Services

Prioritise regenerative resources [Textiles]

Regenerative materials [Textiles]

Using bio-based materials such as bioplastics, mushroom-based materials, etc.

Alternative bio-based materials and inputs [Textiles]

Regenerate strategies phase out hazardous or toxic materials and processes and substitute them with regenerative biomass resources. A circular economy aims to mimic natural cycles—by shifting to more regenerative farming practices, for example—while also maximising the share of circular biomass that enters the economy. Regeneration can happen both at the systems level (by designing regenerative processes) as well as at the product level (by switching synthetic to organic fertilisers, for example).

Regenerate

Impacts

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Industries

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The principles of a circular economy concern designing out waste, regenerating ecosystems and keeping items in use. Decoupling the economy from material flows—improving the rate of resource productivity faster than the economic growth rate—is also a consistent guide. By evolving with the growing number of applications of circular economy principles, and consolidating these strategies across thematic areas, Circle Economy’s Key Elements Framework (KE) renders the elements of the circular economy salient and serves as a basis to derive contextual strategies and interventions. 


The Framework consists of:
- Core Elements: Activities directly handling product or material flows; and uniquely,
- Enabling Elements: those that remove obstacles for core actors.


Key elements of the circular economy

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Circle Economy's framework of strategies and activities that define the circular economy

It is 2050.  Full systems change has taken place. This wouldn’t have been possible without the immediate action and radical steps taken from 2020 onwards. Many targets had to be identified in the early 2020s and achieved by 2030 to ensure that the 2050 goal happened in full. A sense of urgency, turbo stakeholder collaboration, supportive government regulation and clear, data driven targets enabled the mindsets and systems change needed to transform to a fully circular textiles ecosystem.

A circular economics model underpins what we have created. It reflects and supports a living organism made up of makers, users and restorers, interacting across vibrant and interconnected networks. Checks and balances, alongside transparency and accountability, ensure a healthy system. Financial, environmental, and social metrics have the purpose of serving communities and the planet. There is shared ownership of profit and loss – across all three metrics – throughout the value chain.

This is what we’ve achieved over the last 30 years:

WCTD Themes

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The Textiles Key Elements Framework is based on the main Key Elements Framework which renders the elements of the circular economy salient and serves as a basis to derive textile-focused strategies and interventions. 

The framework is action-based to provide users with concrete inspiring exemples to prevent and reduce the textiles waste mountain. 

The Framework consists of:
- 3 core elements: activities directly handling textile product or material flows; and uniquely,
- 4 Enabling Elements: those that remove obstacles for core actors.

Under which strategies provide further detail. Finally, each strategy consists of a diversity of tangible solutions which are framed in relation to the sought outcome. 

'Click through each of the seven elements cards below to explore the framework and circular textile-focused case studies in more depth!'

This framework was developed in collaboration with Circle Economy's textiles team. Read more about it [here]( https://www.circle-economy.com/programmes/textiles). 

Textiles Key Elements Framework

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 An action-based framework for apparel brands working towards circular strategies

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Based on the work of [Bocken et al. (2016)](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309699661_Product_design_and_business_model_strategies_for_a_circular_economy), the Four Flows Framework serves as a simple framework for managing resource flows in a circular economy by using less (Narrow), using for longer (Slow), using again (Cycle), and using clean, regenerative materials and energy (Regenerate).

These different principles of circular economy can be applied to our socioeconomic metabolism: we can design stocks like buildings, infrastructure, machinery, and vehicles to be rich resource mines for the future, and design manufactured goods and consumables to be cycled and made regenerative. Furthermore, the focus must also centre on getting more value out of fewer materials. Achieving the aims of a circular economy—minimising material use, regenerating the Earth, and preventing material losses—can be done through these four key strategies mentioned above.

Source: Circle Economy. (2023). *[The circularity gap report 2023](https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023)* (p.22). Amsterdam: Circle Economy. 

Four Flows Framework

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                              Fashions change but the industry itself never really has. It’s always been about growing more cotton, using more water, spraying more chemicals and pumping more oil to sell more of the season’s must-haves. Bigger, faster, cheaper and more wasteful. It’s the opposite of sustainable.Circulose® changes fashion.It’s a new natural material made by gently recovering cotton from worn-out clothes. People that choose Circulose® garments cut their waste, climate, water, microplastics and deforestation fashion footprint to almost zero. → We’re on a journey to make all of fashion circular. Join us.                                                   Some of the world’s most sustainability-conscious and well known brands use Circulose®. It’s by combining creativity and style with innovation that we make fashion more circular, one garment at a time. → Sign up to our newsletter to get early info on collaborations and other exciting things.         KappAhl Spring collection 2021Available in selected stores and online starting May 2021.      BESTSELLER’s Fashion FWD Lab 2021Available in selected stores and online starting April 2021.     Levi’s® has launched its most sustainable jean ever, a garment made with organic cotton and Circulose®, available as part of the Levi’s® Wellthread™ line 2020.  This unique collaboration between Levi’s® Wellthread™, the laboratory to test and validate sustainability ideas through research & development and Circulose® marks a significant milestone in the denim industry’s transition to circularity.The Levi’s® recycled denim collection will be available on the Levi’s® App and on Levi.com July 21st, 2020.             Conscious Exclusive is a recurring collection of exquisite, premium pieces that celebrate the new season with a focus on sustainability and innovation. Conscious Exclusive SS20 introduces Circulose® to retail for the very first time with an easy, blue day dress inspired by the carefree summers of the 1920s Côte d’Azur. The dress consists of 100% viscose of which 50% is FSC certified wood and 50% is Circulose® recovered from post-consumer denim. It’s the piece that proved it – recycling clothes finally works.Available in selected stores worldwide and online starting March 26th 2020.             Circulose® is made from discarded textiles, like that worn-out pair of jeans at the back of your closet. Using a breakthrough process powered by 100% renewable energy, we transform old clothes into a pristine natural material that needs no cotton fields, no oil, and no trees.THIS IS HOW IT WORKS:We take in garments that can’t be resold to people. Either they’re way too worn-out or hopelessly out of style. We prefer cotton clothes because they contain a lot of cellulose.The clothes are shredded, de-buttoned, de-zipped, de-colored and turned into a slurry. Contaminants like plastic polyester are taken out. What remains is cellulose - the biodegradable organic polymer that cotton, trees and all green plants on earth are made out of. The slurry is dried to produce sheets of pure Circulose®. We package the sheets into bales and ship them to be made back into natural textile fibers.A brand designs new clothes using Circulose® fibers. → Loop closed.        BETTER THAN NEW QUALITY — CLIMATE POSITIVE — MINIMAL WATER USE — ZERO LAND USE — ZERO HABITAT DISTURBANCE —  ZERO FERTILIZERS OR PESTICIDES — ZERO VIRGIN RESOURCES — ZERO MICROPLASTICS                    

       Written by Simon Glover	    Published: 19 November 2020        STOCKHOLM - H&M has entered into a five-year agreement with Swedish recycling innovator Renewcell to replace virgin fibres with recycled textiles in garments at scale. By the end of the deal, Renewcell will be providing H&M's suppliers with 10,000 tons per year of its Circulose material which is made from 100 per cent recycled cotton and viscose from used clothes. H&M introduced Circulose in its SS2020 Conscious Exclusive Collection but the new agreement - said to be an industry first - will be the first time it has been used at scale, according to the partners. Log in or subscribe to see this content    

                
        
  Before a shirt is worn for the first time it has been through more steps than most customers realize. Often one producer makes the yarn, another knits or weaves it into textile fabric, and a third makes the shirt from the fabric. Now it’s ready for the customer to wear.
When garments are worn out or no longer wanted some are sold second-hand or used as hand-me-downs, but the vast majority end up in landfills or are incinerated. Much too few are recycled due to the fact that cotton and viscose can’t be recycled with satisfactory quality on a large enough scale. The cycle stops, because there is a hole in the loop, a crucial part is missing. Until now.    
        
  Our recycling technology dissolves used cotton and other cellulose fibers and transforms them into a new, biodegradable raw material: Circulose® pulp. Our customers use it to make biodegradable virgin quality viscose or lyocell textile fibers. This is the link that has been missing from the cycle. We close the loop. The way fashion is produced and consumed can finally be transformed into a never-ending loop.    
        
  Circulose® is a branded ‘dissolving pulp’ product that Renewcell makes from 100% textile waste such as worn-out jeans and production scraps. Dissolving pulp is what the textile industry uses to make viscose, lyocell, modal, acetate other types of regenerated fibers (also called ‘man-made cellulosic fibers’). The only difference with Circulose® is that it’s made from textile waste instead of wood.    
   

Sweden

Stockholm

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Renewcell

H&M Group

Circulose® is a branded ‘dissolving pulp’ product that Renewcell makes from 100% textile waste such as worn-out jeans and production scraps. Dissolving pulp is what the textile industry uses to make viscose, lyocell, modal, acetate other types of regenerated fibers (also called ‘man-made cellulosic fibers’). The only difference with Circulose® is that it’s made from textile waste instead of wood.

Swedish company Renewcell develops Circulose®, a pulp made out of 100% textile waste. 

Using materials that can be easily reused or recycled after use

Reusable, recyclable materials and inputs

Using waste materials that have been processed and recycled to produce new products within the same industry

Using closed loop recycled materials

Working together with stakeholders and parties in other unrelated industries to implement circular economy strategies and opportunities

Cross-industry projects, pilots

Reusable, recyclable materials and inputs [Textiles]

This week, the Levi’s® brand launched its most sustainable jean ever, a garment made with organic cotton and Circulose®, a breakthrough material made in part from worn-out jeans. Available through the Levi’s® Wellthread™ line in the 502 for men and High Loose for women, this jean represents more than five years of research in circular denim design.
This unique collaboration between Wellthread™ and re:newcell, the innovators behind Circulose®, marks a significant milestone in the fashion industry’s transition to circularity. Here, Una Murphy, Levi’s Senior Designer for Innovation, talks about how these garments came about and what they mean to us and the industry: 
What are these jeans?
These jeans represent an important step in our journey to reduce the environmental impact of our products and keep garments out of landfills.
Part of the DNA of Levi’s® is to create garments that last for decades, and these jeans prove that we also now have the capability to regenerate old jeans into new raw materials.
By using high quality recycled denim, we save on the water, chemical and CO2 footprint of our jeans. Each part of the jean – the trims, the thread, etc. – are carefully calibrated to ensure it meets recycling specifications, allowing it to have a second life when it’s worn out. We’ve worked with our innovation partner, re:newcell, to ensure the jeans can go back into their system and be used to make new raw materials, demonstrating that this garment is fully recyclable and truly circular.
In addition, we’re always seeking ways to reduce our water footprint and these jeans save water at every step of their creation, including the fiber stage with organic cotton and Circulose®, which consists of sustainably sourced viscose comprised of 50 percent recycled content from old jeans. We also utilize a water-saving dye method for our denim and each garment uses our Water<less™ garment finishing practices.
How did the collaboration with re:newcell come about?
As part of our ongoing effort to reduce the impact of our source materials, we have long been investigating and innovating new fiber and fabric strategies that we believe can deliver more sustainable products. And the Wellthread™ line has given us the opportunity to build a sustainable design practice through which we can substantiate these innovations, determining if they work and if they can scale.
We’ve always followed a design methodology driven towards greater circularity and that led us to re:newcell. In 2018, we visited their facility in Sweden, and seeing their environmentally friendly pulping process solidified our commitment to working with them. When the partnership afforded us the opportunity to use some of their first commercially available fiber, our Wellthread team mobilized to bring the product to market.
Why do we think this is important/notable? 
The fashion industry consumes a huge amount of virgin fibers – an estimate from a few years back put the number at  53 million tons. Cotton was around a quarter of that amount, and about three-quarters of it eventually wound up in landfill or was burned. This wasteful approach to overconsumption and use of natural resources is far from sustainable.
In our ongoing research and development, we strive to improve our design practices and conserve environmental resources every way we can. By incorporating sustainable innovation, we learn what’s possible and work towards solving some of our biggest challenges. These jeans are a realization of a vision and a more circular design practice that can keep materials in circulation longer, therefore reducing the impact of the garments we create, while still delivering the same style and longevity Levi’s® are known for.

 On July 21st, Levi’s® launches its most sustainable jean ever, a garment made with organic cotton and Circulose®, a breakthrough material made from worn-out jeans. Available as part of the Levi’s® Wellthread™ line in the 502 for men and High Loose for women, this jean represents more than five years of research in circular denim design.
This unique collaboration between Levi’s® Wellthread™, the laboratory to test and validate sustainability ideas through research & development, and re:newcell, the innovators behind Circulose®, marks a significant milestone in the fashion industry’s transition to circularity. It’s like-for-like fiber input means the garment can itself be recycled through an existing chemical recycling processes.
“Bringing fashion full circle, denim-to-denim, together with a brand as iconic as Levi’s® is a dream come true. To make fashion sustainable, it’s important to show people that a material like Circulose® is a real alternative to virgin cotton both in performance and style. I can’t think of a better proof than putting truly circular Levi’s® 502’s into stores worldwide” says Patrik Lundström, CEO of re:newcell.
To make Circulose®, re:newcell repurposes discarded cotton textiles, such as worn-out denim jeans, through a process akin to recycling paper. The incoming waste fabrics are broken down using water. The color is then stripped from these materials using an eco-friendly bleach. After any synthetic fibers are removed from the mix, the slurry-like mixture is dried and the excess water is extracted, leaving behind a sheet of Circulose®. This sheet is then made into viscose fiber which is combined with cotton and woven into a new fabric.
“We want to recycle Levi’s jeans in a way that doesn’t diminish their quality. By collaborating with re:newcell, our garment-to-garment recycling takes an important step forward,” notes Una Murphy, Levi’s® Senior Designer for Innovation. “Recycling keeps garments out of landfills and minimizes the use of natural resources. We’re transforming old jeans into high-quality materials, moving us beyond traditional cotton recycling, which shortens and breaks fibers. By using high-quality fiber, Levi’s jeans last longer, and designing for circularity allows our old jeans to become new jeans, again and again.”
Designed in a way that maximizes recyclability so it can be regenerated into a new jean again, each part of the jean – trims, thread, etc. – are carefully calibrated to ensure it meets recycling specifications, allowing it to have a second life when it’s worn out.  Innovations like this are what will allow Levi’s®, and the fashion industry, to reduce dependency on virgin materials.  What’s more, Levi’s® and re:newcell were able to successfully put a pair of the Wellthread™ jeans made with Circulose® and organic cotton, sourced from Turkey, through re:newcell’s recovery system and come away with viable material output for future use, demonstrating that this garment is, in fact, fully recyclable and truly circular.
“This is a sustainability challenge that we’ve been wrestling with for years, so it’s really exciting to see an aspirational concept become a familiar pair of Levi’s jeans that consumers can actually buy and wear,” says Paul Dillinger, Levi’s VP of Global Product Innovation. “The fashion industry has long been chasing the potential of the ‘circular economy.’ The jeans we’ve made in collaboration with re:newcell proves that it can be done.”
In addition, Circulose® is manufactured in a first-of-its-kind recycling facility powered by renewable energy in Kristinehamn, Sweden. This translates to denim that requires less water and energy, leaving us with an overall lighter carbon footprint.
About the Levi’s® brand
The Levi’s® brand epitomizes classic American style and effortless cool. Since their invention by Levi Strauss & Co. in 1873, Levi’s® jeans have become one of the most recognizable garments of clothing in the world—capturing the imagination and loyalty of people for generations. Today, the Levi’s® brand portfolio continues to evolve through a relentless pioneering and innovative spirit that is unparalleled in the apparel industry. Our range of leading jeanswear and accessories are available in more than 110 countries, allowing individuals around the world to express their personal style. For more information about the Levi’s® brand, its products and stores, please visit levi.com.
For questions and more information on the brand, please contact Molly Hayes, Levi’s Global PR, mhayes@levi.com
About re:newcell
Founded by innovators from Stockholm’s Royal Institute of Technology in 2012, re:newcell is a multi-award-winning circular fashion company based in Sweden. The company’s vision is to lead the way to a sustainable world by producing high quality products from recycled textiles.
Through its patented process, re:newcell can upcycle cellulosic textile waste, such as cotton and viscose, transforming it into a pristine new material called Circulose®. The company has received investment from fashion companies like H&M and is regularly recognised for its work to make fashion sustainable. Most recently, re:newcell won the Norrsken Impact Award recognising Nordic startups working to solve the world’s greatest challenges and was named a finalist in both Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards 2020 and Draper’s Sustainable Fashion Awards 2020.
For more information, visit www.circulo.se and www.renewcell.com. Follow @circulose on Instagram for regular updates on launches.
For questions, please contact Harald Cavalli-Björkman, CMO of re:newcell at harald.cavalli-bjorkman@renewcell.com or telephone +46705903204 

United States

In July 2020, Levi’s® brand launched its most sustainable jean ever, the WellThread 502 jean, made with organic cotton and Circulose®, a breakthrough material made in part from worn-out jeans, created by Renewcell.

Levi’s collaborates with Renewcell to create their most sustainable jean ever 


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This collection has been built by a community of passionate researchers, students, and industry professionals as part of <a href="https://worldcirculartextilesday.com/" target="_blank">World Circular Textiles Day</a> (WCTD). 


World Circular Textiles Day takes place every year on 8th October. Our vision is to galvanise the collective ambitions and goals of people, organisations and businesses to reach a fully circular textiles world by 2050. Our mission is to provide a framework for circularity stakeholders to develop and deliver a collaborative, evolving roadmap and to chart circularity’s momentum annually from the 8th of October until 2050.

What does fully circular by 2050 mean?
- Shared textile resources, in the form of products and raw materials, are kept in **continual circulation**.
- Virgin resources are **replaced with circular materials**.
- Dignity, equity, and equality for the **people** involved in all parts of the circular value chain.

We need to know where we stand today to chart how to get to 100% Circularity by 2050. What circular activity is currently happening in the textiles and apparel industry, and where in the world is it happening? The WCTD Collection aims to answer this question by building the world’s largest digital library of circular textiles case studies. 

World Circular Textiles Day is proud to be supported by our 2022-23 Circular Hero Partners:
[Lenzing](https://www.lenzing.com/), [Texaid](https://retailsolutions.texaid.com/), [Bank & Vogue](https://www.bankvogue.com/), [Usha yarns limited](https://ushayarns.com/), [The Conduit](https://www.theconduit.com/), and [Asia Pacific Rayon](https://www.aprayon.com/en/)

## Want to contribute to the WCTD Collection? Sign up and add your circular textiles activities.

World Circular Textiles Day

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Impact on the availability of resources as well as their effect on living organisms, ecosystems, and components of the environment.

Ecological Impact

Impacts on the financial condition of a company, as well as the the economicconditions of its stakeholders and on economic systems at local, national, andglobal levels.

Economic Impact

Producing and providing business and consumer goods and services

Goods and Services

Utilise waste streams as a source of secondary resources and recover waste for reuse and recycling

Use waste as a resource

Account for the systems perspective during the design process, to use the right materials, to design for appropriate lifetime and to design for extended future use

Design for the future

Work together throughout the supply chain, internally within organisations and with the public sector and communities to increase transparency and create joint value

Team up to create joint value

Reuse, repurpose, and recycle waste streams within the same industry

Valorise waste streams - closed loop

Designing to reduce waste during production and use

Design out waste

Industry peers to industry peer collaboration to create joint value and identify synergies

Industry collaboration

Alternative bio-based materials and inputs

Enacting measures that optimise material use such as 3D printing, etc.

Material efficiency

Using <a href="https://echa.europa.eu/information-on-chemicals" target="_blank">materials that are not toxic or hazardous</a>.

Non-toxic materials and inputs

Transforming waste products, materials for reuse within the same industry

Closed loop upcycling

Designing products so they produce as little waste as possible during production

Design for minimal waste

Working together with industry peers to engage in business activities or exploratory projects that advance the circular economy

Joint industry ventures, projects, pilots

Cycle strategies aim to cycle and reuse materials at their highest value: they maximise the volume of secondary materials re-entering the economy, ultimately minimising the need for virgin material inputs and therefore also narrowing flows. Of course, virgin materials will always be needed to a degree: all materials degrade and can’t be cycled infinitely, use energy, and require blending with virgin materials to maintain strength and functionality.

Cycle

Archetypes

CE Materials

Materials

Nace Sectors

Topics

Urban Opportunities

Whilst no two countries are the same, there are still obvious similarities between some of them, with discernible development patterns and parallels in evidence. Common problems and shared solutions help place unique country identities and individual issues in context.

Whilst this classification is far from clear-cut and exhibits some overlap, it does underline how the discourse on transitioning to a circular economy needs to account for both differences and commonalities, if we are to arrive at a more strategic and instructive analysis. It also allows to highlight a set of key themes that are likely to be central to the countries that fall under the respective profiles. 

Country profiles (Build, Grow, Shift)

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A framework to distinguish between different country profiles and their circular transition needs.

Browse case studies by type of implementing stakeholder.

Implementing stakeholders

The Circular City Actions Framework provides urban changemakers with five complementary strategies they can use to start working towards a more circular system. 

The framework is action-based to provide users with concrete strategic directions and showcase the desired outcomes of each strategy. 
The framework consists of five complementary **strategies**, under which **sub-strategies** provide further detail. Finally, each sub-strategy consists of a diversity of tangible **solutions** which are framed in relation to key thematic areas. 

Note: solutions are currently focused on:
- 🍏 **Food systems**
- 🏢  **Built environment**
- 👕📱  **Consumer goods**
- ⚡ **Energy Systems**
- 🚌 **Mobility Systems**
- 💧 **Water Systems**

More thematic areas are coming soon...

'Click through each of the five strategy cards below to explore the framework and circular economy case studies in more depth!'



This framework was developed in collaboration with ICLEI, Metabolic and Ellen MacArthur Foundation with support from the MAVA Foundation. Read more about it [here]( https://circulars.iclei.org/action-framework/). 



Circular City Actions Framework

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An action-based framework for local governments working towards circular cities

City Stakeholders

Test Framework

Challenges

Based on the ongoing ISO standardisation process, a taxonomy has been defined under which to cluster indicators to measure circularity. 

ISO Taxonomy

If managed well, the transition to the circular economy will have multiple benefits for the labour market, including the opening up of job opportunities, raising job standards and reducing inequalities through a global redistribution of value. But a positive transition to circularity for work and workers must be underpinned by three pillars: upskilling the workforce, quality of work and inclusive job opportunities. Find out more and explore cases that illustrate these pillars below.

Circular Jobs Initiative Pillars

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A positive transition to circularity for work and workers must be underpinned by three core pillars.

This is a survey that dives into understanding the policy environment around specific circular solutions. 

The survey is divided into five sections, based on the five key elements of the Circular Cities Action Framework. 
Each section asks 2-3 questions to explore which policies may or may not be present within your city to support a transition towards a circular economy. 

You are not alone! Each question provides some practical examples from cities around the world that have adopted a certain policy to support their transition. This can help to compare with your city - is your city doing something similar?

The survey answers should be based on your current knowledge, and not illicit additional research - ! Please make use of the Not sure option as appropriate.


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Danish fashion brand Ganni is introducing three new fabric innovations as part of its ‘Fabrics of the Future’ initiative to its collections to assist its ambitions of a 50 percent absolute carbon reduction by 2027.
The three new sustainable and innovative fabrics are Mylo, Stem and Circulose, which will feature in limited-edition releases aimed at supporting the start-ups to scale their fabric innovations for future launches.
Nicolaj Reffstrup, founder at Ganni, said in a statement: “Through ‘Fabrics of the Future’ we are committed to supporting start-ups in scaling their innovations. Fabric innovations will play a crucial role in making fashion more circular as well as creating lower impact materials, but for that to happen brands need to place bets and take risks.
“We refuse to accept the industry status quo and with this initiative, we have created a solid framework where research, innovation and cross industry knowledge sharing can live together.”
 Image: Ganni; Ganni x Mylo

Ganni to add Mylo, Stem and Circulose fabric innovations to its collections
The first collaboration is with Bolt Threads’s mycelium-based leather alternative Mylo, created from mushrooms, which has already been showcased by Stella McCartney and Lululemon. Ganni has used the bio-based, 100 percent animal-free material to create a limited-edition wallet and one-of-a-kind saddle bags that were displayed at the brand’s public pop-up during Global Fashion Summit earlier this week from June 7-8.
 Image: Ganni; Ganni x Stem

Ganni has also joined forces with Copenhagen-based start-up Stem on a three-piece circular collection using its zero-waste production process, which uses the entire fabric, eliminating all cutting and sewing waste. The limited-run collection features a jacket, a dress and a pair of trousers and is available to buy at Ganni's Bremerholm store.
 Image: Ganni; Ganni x Circulose

In addition, Ganni is introducing two pairs of trousers in its pre-autumn/winter collection that are made of 100 percent viscose with 15 percent Circulose, a new natural material made by recovering worn-out cotton clothes into a dissolving pulp. The breakthrough process by Renewcell is powered by 100 percent renewable energy and transforms discarded textiles into a new material that needs no cotton fields, no oil, and no trees.










—DITTE REFFSTRUP, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, GANNISCROLL TO EXPLORE OUR WORLD OF COMMUNITY, CONFIDENCE & RESPONSIBILITY 




 








Instead, we're focused on becoming the most responsible version of ourselves. We’re not perfect but we’re committed to making better choices every day, minimising our social and environmental impact across the entire business. We see this as our moral obligation and every act counts. The time to create change is now, no excuses.At GANNI we take a holistic approach to being a responsible brand. Whether that’s eating plant based or tackling radical supply chain transparency. What matters is the accumulated impact of all the choices we make, big and small, everyday. We take a results and facts driven approach to creating change.In 2020, we launched our Responsibility Game Plan, comprising 44 Goals across People, Planet, Product, and Prosperity to be reached by 2023. We’ve reached 30 of those goals to date, and we’re on track to reach the remaining 14 this year - a year ahead of our commitment. We publish an annual responsibility report to show our progress to the public. 




 



 
 



 




Jacket, Trouser, Dress launched on 7th June 2022. GANNI x Stem garments have been produced using Stem's zero-waste production technique.‍Garment Information: ‍- Fabric: 100% biological cotton, made of GOTS certified yarns. Cotton grown and spun in Turkey. Warp coated using waste from the food industry. Woven in Prato, Italy. Chemical-free finishing in Prato, Italy. - Thread: 100% Tencel Lyocell thread made using eucalyptus pulp. Fibres from Austria. Spun in Egypt. Dyed in Portugal. - Buttons: Screw buttons to simplify the recyclability process. Produced in Turkey. - Cut and Sewn: In Trofa, Portugal, by Amelia, Lurdes, Zeza, Adelaide, Alexandrina, Inês, Rosário, Ana, Paula, Maria dos Anjos, Graça, Susana, Sofia, Jens Ole, Sarah.‍Garment Care : Spot clean and eco-dry clean.How we use anything that we have to cut off : ‍- Scrap Yarn Tag (Attached to pouch): Made of any yarn or thread lost during the cutting and sewing process. Can be used as a patch to repair the garment. - Pouch: Each garment is woven one at a time. In between each piece, 10cm of plain denim twill is woven to regulate the loom. We have saved this fabric and cut it into a small pouch for you to use. - Ribbon: The border of the fabric, known as the selvedge gives the fabric a clean edge. This is removed during the garment cutting process. We hope you keep this and, for example, use it as a belt or to wrap the next gift you give.‍‍


Danish affordable luxury brand GANNI announces their first launch of products made partly with Circulose® within their ‘Fabrics of the Future’ initiative, an ambitious in-house programme dedicated to researching and developing innovative materials that will help inform the transition towards a more circular and lower impact fashion industry. The launch of these exclusive styles coincides with the Global Fashion Summit, the world’s leading summit on sustainability in Fashion. During the summit, GANNI will host pop-ups around Copenhagen and in the brand’s Copenhagen Flagship Store.

“Through Fabrics of the Future we are committed to supporting start-ups in scaling their innovations. Fabric innovations will play a crucial role in making fashion more circular as well as creating lower impact materials, but for that to happen brands need to place bets and take risks. We refuse to accept the industry status quo and with this initiative, we have created a solid framework where research, innovation and cross-industry knowledge sharing can live together. ” — Nicolaj Reffstrup, GANNI Founder
Circulose® is a new natural material made by recovering discarded cotton textiles into a dissolving pulp. In a breakthrough process powered by 100% renewable energy, Circulose® transforms discarded textiles into a new material that needs no cotton fields, no oil, and no trees. As a soft introduction, two pants in the Pre-Fall collection will be made of 100% viscose of which 15% is Circulose® recycled from discarded textiles at Renewcell’s plant in Sweden. GANNI is committed to incorporating more of the material into future collections and is already working on other styles upcoming collections.
“Working with progressive brands like GANNI is essential to our effort to make fashion circular at scale — we need their help to prove the quality and style potential of Circulose®. It’s a major milestone for us to make it into GANNI’s main collection. Circulose® changes fashion from the inside by liberating designers from the old constraints of textile-to-textile recycled materials. We are grateful for GANNI’s leadership and look forward to expanding our collaboration as we proceed to open our new commercial scale recycling plant Renewcell 1 in Sundsvall, Sweden, this summer.” — Patrik Lundström, Renewcell CEO
About GANNIBased in Copenhagen and owned and run by husband-and-wife team Creative Director Ditte Reffstrup and Founder Nicolaj Reffstrup, GANNI has developed exponentially over recent years with its Scandi 2.0 sense of style full of personality and contrast. GANNI is all about making their community who wear their clothes feel even more confident and capable of anything. GANNI has offices in Copenhagen, London, Paris, New York & Shanghai and is represented in more than 600 of the world’s top tier retailers as well as 37 GANNI retail locations across Europe and the United States. GANNI.com delivers internationally to 35 countries including Australia, Canada and South Korea.
GANNI is on a journey to become a more responsible version of themselves. They believe it is a moral obligation to do better every day. In 2020, the brand launched its Responsibility Game Plan, which comprises 44 Goals across People, Planet, Product, and Prosperity to reach by 2023. This helps GANNI in taking a holistic and results-driven approach to responsibility. The brand publishes an annual Responsibility Report to publicly share their progress and put their commitments out there. For the brand's newest collection. 92% of the production volume comes from responsible styles, meaning at least 50% of the composition is certified recycled, lower-impact, or organic. GANNI is committed to having 100% responsible styles in the future. 
GANNI currently has 100% traceability on Stage 1-4 of their supply chain and has published all Stage 1 and 2 suppliers with the Open Apparel Registry to drive transparency.


 Fueled by the climate crisis and a desire to do better by the planet, GANNI is making change — and fast. Continuing to push their own boundaries, they recently launched their most responsible collection yet, and in 2021 alone, they checked an impressive number of sustainability achievements off their to-do list. Among these milestones: GANNI designed denim in line with The Jeans Redesign initiative, submitted their B Corp application, and created virtual samples with CLO3D, in addition to signing a contract with Mylo. 
GANNI is refreshingly straightforward with their sustainability goals and how they measure up. Are they perfect, environmentally speaking? No. And they don’t claim to be. On their website, they clarify, “We don’t identify as a sustainable brand… we’re focused on becoming the most responsible version of ourselves. Committed to making better choices every day across the business to minimise our social and environmental impact. We see this as our moral obligation.” As far as they’ve come, there’s plenty more to do, and we’re excited to be part of their journey.  

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Ganni

Mylo™

Stem

Ganni, a Danish fashion brand, is introducing three new fabric innovations as part of its ‘Fabrics of the Future’ initiative to its collections. The three new sustainable and innovative fabrics are Mylo, Stem and Circulose. They will be included in limited-edition releases with the purpose of supporting the start-ups to scale their fabric innovations for future launches.

Ganni adds 3 new 'Fabrics of the Future' to its collections

Impacts on the social fabric of the community and well-being of the individuals and families.

Social Impact

Impact on increased knowledge and understanding as a result of the case study

Increase Awareness

Producing and providing leisure and personal products and services for consumers, such as cleaning products, sports equipment and toys, personal and beauty care products, as well as domestic and personal services such as caretaking, cleaning, hairdressing and other beauty treatment, funeral and related activities

Personal Products and Services

Providing goods on the Internet, through mail order, or television, or providing goods in stores, including apparel, electronics, furniture, food and drug, etc.

Retail

While resources are in-use, maintain, repair and upgrade them to maximise their lifetime and give them a second life through take back strategies when applicable

Stretch the lifetime

Give products and parts another life after their end-of-use

Maximise lifetime of products after use

Designing to enable multiple uses and lifecycles of a product and its materials

Design for cyclability

Circulose is a recycled cotton product made from discarded textiles. In creating this material, consumers are diminishing their fashion footprint in terms of cutting waste, water, microplastics and more. Through recycling cotton, Renewcell is cutting down on production and post-consumption waste.